PITTSBURGH -- The Grove City
College football team opened the road portion of the 2009 schedule Saturday
afternoon with a 45-40 setback against host Carnegie Mellon at Gesling Stadium.

Grove City fell behind 31-7
early in the third quarter before charging back with five second-half
touchdowns. The Wolverine comeback effort began with 10:38 left in the third
quarter as senior quarterback Andrew DiDonato (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette)
fired a 38-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Zach Summy (Manheim,
Pa./Manheim Central).

CMU pushed its lead back to
38-21 on the first play of the fourth quarter as Phil Pantalone threw a 26-yard
touchdown pass to Brandon Howe on a flea-flicker. However, Grove City countered
with an 11-play, 71-yard drive that culminated in Summy's 13-yard touchdown
reception from DiDonato with 11:27 remaining. The conversion failed.

Grove City's onside kick attempt
went out of bounds though and CMU (2-0) successfully ran out the clock.

DiDonato completed 31 of 47
passes for a school-record 382 yards. His five touchdown passes are also a
single-game record. DiDonato also ran for 91 yards, giving him a Grove
City-record 473 yards of total offense.

Miller caught eight passes for
82 yards while Summy gained 127 yards on seven catches. O'Hara also had six
catches while Hall pulled in four balls. Junior wingback A.J. Tapper (Cambridge
Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) scored Grove City's first touchdown of the day
as he caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from DiDonato in the first quarter.

Grove City out-gained CMU
510-400. The Wolverines also accumulated 27 first downs. However, CMU forced
three Grove City turnovers. The Tartans turned two of the turnovers into
touchdowns in the first half. CMU ran for 317 yards as Pratt gained 157 and
Chris Garcia ran for 107.

Carnegie Mellon owned a
36:02-23:58 edge in time of possession. CMU's average starting field position
for the game was the 50-yard line while Grove City's was its own 22. CMU also
converted nine of 15 third downs while the Wolverines converted three of eight
opportunities.

Grove City's cumulative 398
yards passing is a school record, as are the combined six touchdown passes.

The Wolverines will visit
Bethany next Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Presidents' Athletic Conference
opener for both teams.